How often do you read your Bible? And when you do, are you doing it out of a sense of responsibility (which I endorse if that’s is all that motivates you), or do you go to God’s Word seeking to increase your faith. We can go to God’s Word based on what the Apostle Paul taught:
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“So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.†(Romans 10:17)
When you hear the gospel, you are without excuse if you reject Christ. It is the Word of God that allows us to see our sinfulness and desperate need for a Savior. That’s how we become a born again believer. However, after our conversion, reading God’s Word brings us closer to Jesus and it always increases our faith in the Lord.
Why? Because holy word after holy word, Old Testament and New Testament, we find God the Father and Jesus the Son of God—precarnate, incarnate, and resurrected—working in the lives of His people. When we see that we have a faithful Lord, then our faith in Jesus grows. Before conversion the Word gives us enough faith to believe, and then after our bibles should give us faith to keep believing. Notice I said should; it is conditional upon us spending time in the Word. Warren Wiersbe writes this about Romans 10:17:
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“…the unique power of God’s Word makes belief in Christ possible…not only does the unique power of the Word make belief possible, but the universal proclamation of the Word makes belief possible…â€
As was the case with the Jewish nation in Paul’s time, so it is in ours that we who refuse to believe in Christ do so unreasonably. Other than stubborn rebellion can a lost soul reject Christ when the gospel is proclaimed. Why? Because as Wiersbe writes, the unique power of God’s Word makes belief possible and that is why it is so important for we believers to universally proclaim it!
Jesus gave a parable that illustrates this point:
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“And when a great multitude had gathered, and they had come to Him from every city, He spoke by a parable: ‘A sower went out to sow his seed. And as he sowed, some fell by the wayside; and it was trampled down, and the birds of the air devoured it. Some fell on rock; and as soon as it sprang up, it withered away because it lacked moisture. And some fell among thorns, and the thorns sprang up with it and choked it. But others fell on good ground, sprang up, and yielded a crop a hundredfold.’ When He had said these things He cried, ‘He who has ears to hear, let him hear!’ Then His disciples asked Him, saying, ‘What does this parable mean?’ And He said, ‘To you it has been given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God, but to the rest it is given in parables, that “Seeing they may not see, and hearing they may not understand.†‘Now the parable is this: The seed is the word of God. Those by the wayside are the ones who hear; then the devil comes and takes away the word out of their hearts, lest they should believe and be saved. But the ones on the rock are those who, when they hear, receive the word with joy; and these have no root, who believe for a while and in time of temptation fall away. Now the ones that fell among thorns are those who, when they have heard, go out and are choked with cares, riches, and pleasures of life, and bring no fruit to maturity. But the ones that fell on the good ground are those who, having heard the word with a noble and good heart, keep it and bear fruit with patience.’†(Luke 8:4-15)
So we must hear with spiritual ears to believe, but too often, even after conversion, we hear with physical ears but do not listen spiritually. Having spiritual ears means being able to hear the voice of God, and not only hear but also to recognize His voice. And we become familiar with God’s voice by spending time in His Word. The Resurrected Christ instructs us to hear the Spirit:
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“He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes shall not be hurt by the second death.†(Revelation 2:11)
Beloved, if you truly want to see your faith grow, then you have to invest time in it. We cannot expect our financial portfolios to grow overnight without expecting to make a quick buck. Our spiritual portfolios grow by investing time and being patient in allowing God’s Word to grow our faith. When we respond to the teachings of God’s Word through the Holy Spirit, it is then, and only then, that we see our faith grow. And our faith grows by the Word of God, and then all things in Christ become possible.
In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4
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Copyright © 2012 David Jeffers